Home

About

Worst Welcome Bonuses Ever!

I signed up for a welcome bonus. It said it would give me C$100. But when I registered and deposited money to play they wouldn’t give it to me.

Clarke Retterer

Online casino representative

Welcome bonus Q&A transcript at an online casino convention in Toronto between a woman from the audience and online casino representative Clarke Retterer.

Woman: I signed up for a welcome bonus. It said it would give me C$100. But when I registered and deposited money to play they wouldn’t give it to me.

Clarke Retterer. I’m sorry to hear that. As we have numerous various welcome bonuses, it is impossible for me to give a proper reply on that information alone.

Woman: All I know is that I registered, deposited money and didn’t get my welcome bonus.

C.R. Did you meet the welcome bonus wagering requirement?

Woman. What’s a wagering requirement?

C.R. I think we may have gone to the bottom from the very get go here. A welcome bonus wagering requirement is the minimum amount of times you need to wager your money before being entitled to claim your welcome bonuses. It’s a common sense type of insurance, as players could otherwise set up an account at every online casino in the world and simply fetch a bunch of money from those welcome bonuses. You wouldn’t see any online casinos around, neither in Canada nor in the rest of the world, if those requirements were not to be in place.

Woman. But why didn’t it say so when I signed up to play? I just wanted the welcome bonuses you put on display.

C.R. Did you apply for several welcome bonuses? That shouldn’t be possible.

Woman. I don’t know. I told my husband to set up an account as well.

C.R. I’m sorry, but that sounds like welcome bonuses abuse. It is not permitted. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, but please have you husband’s account closed down. And to get back to your other inquiry, it does clearly state in the terms and conditions that you agree to once signing up what our respective welcome bonuses concern.

Woman. Sure, but who reads those? It’s just deliberately long and overly advanced texts not meant to be read. At least I know of no one who ever read those. Why didn’t you just state in big bold letters upon registering for those welcome bonuses that to get this you need to do a, b and c. Easy, no?

C.R. Well, in all fairness, it does state that, too. All welcome bonuses have a circled “i” to them. If you hover over that, it lists precisely what’s expected in just a few sentences.

Woman. I’m sorry, but I still don’t think that’s fair. I don’t play much at online. In fact, this was my second online casino try ever. I just got impelled by the promise of free money. C$300 in this case. Why would I turn that down?

C.R. I’m glad we had this talk. But do keep in mind that there is no such thing as free money…

Woman. Yes, there is!

C.R. Well, if you know where to find free money, please, by all means go ahead and fetch it. But true, you are right to some extent. Welcome bonuses are free money, for they incur a net expense for online casinos.

Woman. So can I have my welcome bonuses then? Mine and my husband’s?

C.R. We … Let’s take five. And madame, may I speak to you in person, please?